


Clean Up Crew

by eerian_sadow



Series: Sparkeaters and Other Walking Dead [8]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Community: spook_me, M/M, Offscreen character death, spark eaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 16:37:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12461682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: Finally back on Cybertron, the Autobots have started the massive job of cleaning up and rebuilding. Hunting down other Sparkeaters has become part of the job for Jazz.





	Clean Up Crew

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2017 round of spook_me, hosted on Dreamwidth.
> 
> My image prompts: https://images108.fotki.com/v1659/photos/6/3814576/14412321/ponsecachecontrolmaxage2628000-vi.jpg  
>  https://images51.fotki.com/v1654/photos/6/3814576/14412321/wmcentirevhsmall_jpg1446219896-vi.jpg
> 
>  
> 
> Notes: this fic is set in my “Sparkeaters and Other Walking Dead” universe, an AU for the live action Transformers movies. Feel free to read the other stories in the series, but the only thing you need to know for this fic is that Jazz is a Sparkeater (an energy vampire that eats Cybertronian sparks/souls to survive), and he is using that ability to help remove Decepticons from Cybertron.
> 
> This fic is set roughly ten years after “Reunion.”
> 
>  

_”Jazz, Optimus wants to know if you’ve found anything yet.”_ Bumblebee’s voice sounded irritated over the comm and Jazz couldn’t blame him. He loved his Prime, but the constant demands for updates were more than a little annoying.

It was like the other mech had forgotten just what Jazz and Bee had done before they spent two decades on Earth. 

“I’ve got a scent but not much else. Whoever’s out here ain’t Starscream, but that’s all I know.”

_”All right. I’ll tell him. Be careful out there. I don’t like you hunting for an unknown alone like this.”_

“That’s sweet, babe, but you ain’t gotta worry about me. I know how to handle myself out here.”

 _”Says the mech who got ripped in half by Megatron.”_ The Sparkeater smiled as his partner's voice shifted from worried to something a bit more amused. He didn’t like it when Bee worried about him, especially since these days it would take a lot more than a crazed Lord Protector to put him down. _”Humor me, though, and come back at 2300 if you don’t find anything, please.”_

“Can do, Bee. I’ll see you soon.”

 _”See you soon.”_ The comm fell silent a klik later.

Jazz let himself sink back into contemplation. He hadn’t wanted to worry Bumblebee or Optimus, but he knew exactly what he was smelling even if he didn’t know who it was. The whole area around him reeked of another Sparkeater.

And death. Whoever this Sparkeater was, they had killed a whole lot of mechs very recently.

The visored mech shook off his apprehension--he’d killed just enough of Starscream’s other spawn to know he wasn’t invulnerable against another Sparkeater--and checked that the topcoat that muted his bright silver paint was still intact. Then he let himself fall into his hunting instincts and began tracking. 

He had a three hour deadline, after all.

 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

 

When he found the other Sparkeater, curled up in a small cubbyhole in a cracked wall, it was not at all what he was expecting. It smelled _ancient_ , the scents of decay and rot layering to indicate that it was older than Starscream, but looked like it had been forged no more than an Earth year before. It was tiny enough to fool any mech with normal senses to think that it had been born from a hotspot of wild Allspark energy, and covered in enough dried energon to make that hard to believe.

It stared at him with huge, violet optics and hissed warningly. “This is my territory! Get out!”

“Nah, this is my territory now.” Jazz shrugged, acting as if he wasn't intimidated and rapidly trying to calculate just how strong the small Sparkeater might be. “Thought maybe I could just leave you alone, til I found those neutrals you ripped apart a little while ago. You didn't even feed on them, just slaughtered them. I ain’t down for that.”

“I’ll kill you just like I killed them!”

“A better mech than you already ripped me in half once.” He shrugged again, continuing his act. He would much rather the other Sparkeater rush him, so that he could use his greater size to his advantage as much as possible. “You ain’t gonna do any better than he did.”

The other Sparkeater hissed again, and uncurled just enough to be able to lunge at him if Jazz continued provoking it. 

“Look, we both know you’re probably older than the war. You know how to hide and hunt without drawing attention.” Optimus would want him to at least try to show the other Sparkeater mercy and extend the hand of friendship. Though, looking at the angry mechanism in the broken wall, he didn’t think it was going to do any good. “Go back to living that way, and I’ll pretend i never saw you and you can move on. Or we can do things your way.”

Faster than he was expecting, the small Sparkeater lunged out of its hole and flung itself at his head. Thin, sharp claws scraped across his face, scratching his visor and opening cuts that beaded up with cold coolant.

“Frag!” The hunter activated the magnets in his hands and used them to catch the small Sparkeater before it could strike again. “The hard way it is, I guess.”

“I’ll kill you!” The other Sparkeater thrashed in the grip of the magnets, hanging in the air in front of Jazz’s face. 

“No you won’t.” Up close, the ancient Sparkeater was almost pathetic looking, plating brittle from too little nutrition and even smaller than he had originally thought. Jazz almost felt bad for what he had to do to keep the other survivors of the war safe.

 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

 

“You’re late!” Bumblebee rushed up to him as he stepped into the entry hall of their outpost. His face fell as he took in Jazz’s injuries. “What happened?”

“Sparkeater. An old one.” The spark chamber and processor module gripped in his claws dripped old coolant and oil onto the floor. “You can tell Optimus that sector is clear now.”

“I will.” The yellow mech reached out and wrapped his arms around the silver mech carefully. “I would have come with you if you had asked.”

Jazz returned the embrace with the arm that wasn’t holding the disembodied parts. “I wanted you safe in here, where the only Sparkeater seeing your spark is me.”

“Yeah, okay. I don’t like it, but I understand.” The younger mech squeezed him tightly before letting go. “Just… tell me next time, okay?”

“Okay.” Jazz sighed, then lifted his claw. “I’m gonna go smelt this and catch a shower. Think you can brave medical for some of Ratchet’s crack filler?”

“For you, yes.” The yellow mech glanced down at his now oil-smeared chest and chuckled. “And then I’ll meet you down in the wash rack.”

“Maybe turn on a cleaning drone first.” The silver mech smiled ruefully as the spark casing dripped again.


End file.
